The Rockefeller Kashmir: Cartier’s Blue at Christie’s New York

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In December, Christie’s New York brings to auction a small constellation of jewels with unusually resonant provenance: pieces worn and kept by Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd, offered from the Collection of Sandra Ferry Rockefeller.

At the heart of this group is a blue stone with a past—and a future—written in superlatives: a Cartier Art Deco sapphire and diamond ring centring a 17.66-carat Kashmir stone, its surface rising in a base-pyramidal cabochon that catches the light like a flame under glass.

Dated circa 1925 and signed Cartier, the ring carries gemmological reports attesting to its Kashmir origin and absence of heat—an increasingly rare confluence of factors that refines the jewel’s historic and aesthetic pull. It is estimated at $1,500,000–2,500,000 and was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Rockefeller 3rd. 

Beyond the headline gem, the Rockefeller selection sketches a lived portrait of mid-century elegance. A Cartier emerald and diamond bracelet, also circa 1925, sets rectangular and square step-cut emeralds amid a scintillating geometry of marquise, rectangular, square, old and single-cut diamonds in platinum—a composition that reads like pure Deco modernity.

Testing notes indicate Colombian origin for four examined emeralds, with clarity enhancement ranging from insignificant to minor in the traditional manner. The bracelet, 16.5 cm in length, is estimated at $100,000–150,000 and descends directly from the Rockefeller couple. 

Wit enters the room in the form of a pair of Raymond Yard parrot clip-brooches, circa 1945. Carved rubies and sapphires, carved emeralds, and round diamonds animate the birds’ plumage; the palette is bright, the modeling crisp, the craftsmanship characteristically Yard.

Each signed, the clips measure 4.8 × 2.2 cm, with an estimate of $20,000–30,000 and Rockefeller provenance. Christie’s notes the design within the literature on Yard, underlining the brooches’ place in the jeweller’s playful yet exacting oeuvre. 

There is also a Cartier diamond and coloured diamond wristwatch, circa 1950, whose linear bracelet and compact case (13 × 20 mm) whisper a refined, post-war femininity.

The catalogue notes that the coloured diamond has not been tested for natural colour—a small but transparent distinction that collectors will appreciate. Estimated at $7,000–9,000, it, too, descends through the Rockefeller family. 

Context: a Rockefeller story told across New York sales

In life, these jewels were not isolated trophies but part of a household shaped by two distinct sensibilities: John D. Rockefeller 3rd’s conviction that art can build bridges across cultures—especially through Asia—and Mrs. Rockefeller’s modernist eye honed through long leadership at MoMA as Trustee and President. Together, they collected with purpose and lived with art, letting sculpture, paintings and jewels converse across rooms.

Christie’s is presenting the Rockefeller material as a cross-category narrative rather than a single-sale moment. The series opens with the 20th Century Evening Sale on 17 November 2025—led by Isamu Noguchi’s Myo (estimate $2,000,000–3,000,000)—and threads through Impressionist & Modern Art Day Sale (including Vuillard’s Les Marguerites), before arriving at Luxury Week on 10 December for the Magnificent Jewels auction, where the Cartier Kashmir will take the lead.

The sequence continues into January 2026 with the 19th Century American & Western Art and The American Collector auctions (from Sanford R. Gifford to Eastman Johnson), culminating in March 2026 with Important Chinese Art sale (a rare Tang gilt-bronze dragon).

A portion of proceeds will benefit Sandra Ferry Rockefeller’s foundation in support of youth programs—aligning these private objects with the family’s long civic and cultural ethos.

As consultant Jonathan Rendell puts it, “The Rockefeller family’s legacy of stewardship and philanthropy is embodied in this group of paintings and works of art. Cherished for generations, they now return to the world to be appreciated anew.”

For connoisseurs, the appeal is twofold: the intrinsic quality of design and material, and the clarity of provenance to one of America’s most influential collecting families. Cartier’s Art Deco sapphire, Yard’s lively parrots, and the cool, modern line of a diamond watch together sketch a private world now stepping momentarily into public view.

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Auction: Magnificent Jewels, New York, 10 December 2025 (Sale 23744). Property: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd from the Collection of Sandra Ferry Rockefeller.